Comments on: Moneymaker Speaks Out About Finding Bigfoot: “Swamp Ape”

By: Opalman

Opalman — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:35:17 +0000

I find it totally ludicrous how so many cryptomundians accept what this guy (Matt Moneymaker) says; often without question. I suppose that’s part and parcel of not knowing how a production like Finding Bigfoot works.

What I see happening is a guy: (MM) whose personality is predominated by delusions of grandeur attempting to ride both sides of the fence on the same horse.

He wants us to believe he is the victim of unscrupulous editing while continuing to make outlandish public suppositions about his experience, his knowledge and the “cutting edge” sasquatch research achievements of the BFRO. He wants us to view him as a wise and knowledgeable researcher yet he can’t even control the ridiculous statements that come out of his overactive mouth. In an effort to regain some shred of credibility regarding sasquatch field studies he blames the actual recordings of his own comments, assumptions and brags on the Animal Planet producers and directors. Its as if he wants us to believe they are physically torturing him in an effort to make him recite some non-existent script.

If this guy is as bright as he portends than why is he so easily tricked at every possible opportunity.

If in fact the Animal Planet is using such manipulative methods to produce a totally ridiculous, meaningless and detrimental to real research entertainment venue, why is he hanging with these people for multiple seasons?

Contract or no contract; I would have been long gone after one such deliberate editing instance. I make this statement in all honesty and I have no professional scientific or sasquatch research reputation to protect. No amount of money can buy my personal integrity; period.

Again; I really wouldn’t care about the Tom Biscardis or Matt Moneymakers in the world except they have a decidedly negative impact on the mission of classifying and protecting this being; (the sasquatch).

One caveat remains, in the general criticism of the BFRO, as I’ve acknowledged before; The BFRO sighting database is world class and a tremendous asset to real research, and I’m very thankful for it..

By: Lawmoe

Lawmoe — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:33:54 +0000

The program is a farce. When any little detail is pounced upon to support the existence of bigfoot, any scientific credibility is lost. The show should be recharacterized as a comedy I am afraid.

By: Craig Woolheater

Craig Woolheater — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 13:29:43 +0000

Comments that do not add to the discussion of the post will not be approved. Approval of comments will be at the discretion of the moderating team here at Cryptomundo.

By: Opalman

Opalman — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 01:24:27 +0000

aargeee and others,
I disagree vehemently with the view that any interest in the subject sparked by the Animal Planet is a good thing. My son who is an Army aviator called me specifically to let me know that he felt the airing of “Finding Bigfoot” was the biggest farce he had ever watched, “just like the belief by some that the creature exists”, exclaimed he. In discussing the same show with my neighbor he sarcastically stated that any university that “funds research on such a bogus subject”, should have all it’s State and Fed funding pulled. My neighbor watched the two episodes solely on my recommendation. I’m embarrassed! Prior to watching the episodes he said he was “open minded” about the existence of Bigfoot but not now; he stated, that the show proved that the subject was all hype and not worthy of his continued interest. Personally I can understand these outcomes. The shows were farces, were they not! Thinking people (the folks that matter) have little patience for Hollywood tricks. Especially irksome to my same neighbor (who flies R/C airplanes) was the “Drone” takes. He laughingly explained that electric planes such as the Drone shown can remain aloft for mere minutes and then with a very limited range—and they are very noisy due to high prop RPM! I remember the excitement exhibited by the BFRO crew regarding the drone! Do you expect me to believe they didn’t understand the uselessness of this apparatus?
I know a little about television production having worked in it for a few years. A program like this can not be innocently created without the featured crew being privy to the takes and retakes etc. All such production requires these. The only slack the BFRO deserves is the probable lack of post production narrative input. The rest is all theirs (BFRO’s), and for all to see. For the life of me I can’t understand what Moneymaker was trying to accomplish here. You cannot tell me that he didn’t know the scenes were staged…period.
Therein lies the problem for all us honest, intensely interested folks who simply want to share our enthusiasm of which we are so convinced. Now my neighbor is more convinced than ever that I’m whacked just for being interested. Ditto for my son.
The best thing MM can possibly do is run (not walk) away from the Animal Planet people…NOW! Let them go back to filming the dreaded, deadly white sturgeon and the nightmarish, man-eating, freshwater eel in New Zealand.

By: aargeee

aargeee — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 14:59:11 +0000

Correction: Reading a bit back I have to correct Animal Planet/Discovery are producers (with a commercial view).

By: aargeee

aargeee — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 14:14:08 +0000

Fellow Cryptomundians

Please hear me out.

It’s a real shame that there is a lot of talk about the faking of the footage.

At first I (as many other Cryptomundians) was really excited about a series (even) regarding our favourite cryptid ‘Sasquatch’.

The fact that some of the footage is fake is a shame for the series. Now everything that will be shown will be taking in account as very possibly faked.

The Discovery Channel is a commercial organisation which rather thinks about viewer ratings than about the (maybe 3 percent) people who look at the series with more interest than just wanting to be entertained.

Just think about how they handle the cadborosaurus footage.

But then again, the Finding Bigfoot series replaced the series River Monsters which had the best ratings ever in the history of Animal Planet. So it can be presumed, the producers of Finding Bigfoot expect big ratings again.

Big ratings brings along with it more public awareness, which in its turn will pique peoples interests.

I think the medium of Animal Planet is a perfect platform for increasing public awareness.

With more people interested, there is a larger market (from Discovery’s perspective), but also just more people who talk about it and want to know more about it.

Increasing desire among public will eventually result in action. From individuals, organisations like BFRO or platforms like Animal Planet (from Discovery).

So again, it’s a shame for the series that some things seem faked. But as long as there is a medium (especially one like Animal Planet and NOT Paranormal TV) which doesn’t totally ridicule Sasquatch, I think it will a have positive influence for the future of Bigfooting.

Kind Regards

By: aargeee

aargeee — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:34:56 +0000

Methane in alligator dens? If we would have to guess, it would have been one of the other two choices (Diet being unlikely to produce this pungent smell).

Rather I think the odor is, like many described, a hairy animal which is exposed to the elements resulting is a smell like a wet dog. Which can be pungent, I can tell you.

By: Tarzanboyy

Tarzanboyy — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 06:08:06 +0000

Look, I’m willing to give Matt and the team the benefit of the doubt. I am however really disappointed with the whole thing because of the disingenuous presentation, which is almost entirely the fault of the producers. Everything has to be called into question, including the physical evidence. Just because the team didn’t plant anything doesn’t mean the production company didn’t without the team’s knowledge. In fact, legitimate reactions on the part of the team would be better for the overall production, so if anything was faked, I would bet money that it was the production company and not the BFRO that faked any evidence. They have nothing to gain by publicly committing what amounts to PR seppuku. The problem is, it sets legitimate research back. I want to see an honest cryptozoological program where if they don’t find anything, they don’t pretend to find something. Even just hearing from eyewitnesses in the absence of physical evidence is interesting to me but it really does besmirch the integrity of the entire field when this sort of thing occurs. So I wish Matt, Bobo and the BFRO good luck. I hope they’re able to turn this situation around and make a respectable program out of this. I won’t be ‘grateful’ as some have suggested to have a show that misrepresents facts for the sake of entertainment. I’m a lover of fiction, but it should be labeled as a dramatization if they intend to tamper with evidence or presentation. There’s a fine line between fiction and lies. I’ll be grateful for the shows that treat the field with the respect it deserves.

By: Nominay

Nominay — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 22:23:52 +0000

Ouch, CDC’s the best post on the show to date I’ve seen. It sums it all up. It’s no more complicated than that. There’s no navigating through this swamp. There’s not a needle to thread here. Animal Planet is going to want what Animal Planet wants. You don’t have a couple rogue producers/editors on your hands. There’s no mistake going on here. They rep. Animal Planet or it’s their ass. I’m sure they all like you guys and have nice personalities, but that doesn’t mean they’re above using you in the slightest. It’s just show business to them – this is not an industry where the people you work have good character. As far as Bobo’s comment goes, I suspect the couple of people in question who conflicted w/ BFRO simply signed on to other projects – either out of free agency or were simply assigned to it – but not out of deference to Matt and his crew. I mean, how much do these people respect you anyway if they don’t believe in Bigfoot? What they believe in is the profile of their audience.

By: korollocke

korollocke — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:25:12 +0000

Matts doing what I expected him to do after screaming at us like a madman defending the “authentic” first episode, backpeddling and spin doctoring his horribly destroyed public image(as well as the BFRO”S image and credibility.) and reputation as a “bigfoot researcher” socalled.